Wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) standards have to define a network structure that provides the network equipment with procedures to enable management of network resources, mobility, and spectrum. This network architecture should allow the networks to perform seamless handover between different WMAN networks and harmonize the handover process with 802.21 for seamless mobility with other wireless networks (e.g., 802.11 wireless local area networks, cellular, etc.).
Current solutions do not define how WMAN network resources are managed and how users can handover seamlessly between various WMAN networks or from WMAN networks to different access technologies. There is a need to define reference models and network architectures for radio resource management (RRM) and mobility management between WMAN and heterogeneous access technologies.